Gallego Announces Nearly $50 Million Coming to Support Arizona Border Communities
Gallego fought to secure this funding in Congress
PHOENIX – Today, Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ-03) announced $47,340,665 in funding from the Shelter and Services Program (SSP) is coming to Arizona to support border communities on the frontlines of the border crisis.
“I am proud to have helped secure this critical funding for Arizona,” said Rep. Gallego. “Our border communities are on the frontlines of the border crisis, and we cannot leave them to deal with it on their own. I won’t stop fighting for more funding - like that announced today - and to fix our broken immigration system.”
The breakdown of the $47,340,665 announced today is as follows:
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$19,256,041 to the State of Arizona;
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$18,706,639 to Pima County;
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$7,545,622? to Regional Center for Border Health, Inc (Yuma County);
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and $1,832,363??to Borderlands Resource Initiative (Pima County).
Today’s funding comes on top of $54,573,093 in SSP funding Rep. Gallego announced in April. Both rounds of funding come from the $650 million in SSP funding Rep. Gallego helped secure as part of the government funding package passed in March. He immediately called on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to swiftly disperse the funds and to prioritize Arizona border communities.
Background on Rep. Gallego’s Wins to Support Arizona’s Border Communities
Following numerous letters urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Biden Administration to deliver Arizona’s frontline border communities essential resources to deal with the border crisis, as well as a one-on-one call with Sec. Mayorkas, Rep. Gallego announced in September 2023 that he had secured over $2 million in emergency funding from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to support Arizona’s border communities as they addressed an increase in migrant crossings.
After close coordination with Arizona’s non-profits, border community leaders, and law enforcement officials, Rep. Gallego rolled out his plan to institute sweeping reforms to improve FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program (SSP) that has too often shortchanged Arizona’s border communities on the front line of the border crisis.
In December, Rep. Gallego traveled across Arizona meeting with border community leaders. He met with local officials, farmers, and business owners in Yuma to discuss the impact the closing of the Lukeville Port of Entry had on their businesses and Arizona’s economy, and he visited Nogales, Bisbee, and Tucson to meet with local leaders, nonprofit officials, and representatives from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to discuss the impact of increased migration on Arizona’s border communities.
To stop the flow of fentanyl across the border, Rep. Gallego introduced the Buck Stops Here Act to authorize the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network to designate financial institutions, transaction classes, or accounts as primary money laundering concerns in connection to illicit fentanyl trafficking. This bill was signed into law in April 2024.
Also in April, Rep. Gallego announced $54,573,093 in funding from SSP to support Arizona’s border communities on the frontlines of the border crisis. Rep. Gallego helped secure $650 million in SSP funding as part of the fiscal year 2024 government funding package. He immediately called on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to swiftly disperse the funds and to prioritize Arizona border communities.
Rep. Gallego has introduced the Direct Hire Act and the Screening Efficiency Act, both aimed at speeding up migrant processing and providing relief to Arizona’s frontline border communities. Rep. Gallego was also the first Democrat to cross the aisle and back the Anti-Border Corruption Improvement Act, which would expedite CBP hiring by removing the polygraph requirement for applicants who have prior law enforcement experience or military security clearances.